Coronavirus (COVID-19) – hub for SPICe material

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Last updated 22 April 2022.

This blogpost provides a central hub for all SPICe work on Coronavirus (COVID-19) and some links to other useful sources of parliamentary information to assist Members and others. It includes work from both Session 6 and work completed in the previous Session.

SPICe regular blogs – trusted information, COVID statistics and timeline

As many readers will be aware, we are producing a range of regular blogs on the COVID-19 crisis:

We previously produced another two regular blogs, which as of April 2022 have been stopped:

Subject-specific SPICe material

Aside from the regularly updated blogposts, we have also published a wide range of blogs and briefings in specific subject areas. These have been grouped by subject below. Most of these were produced during Session 5 but are still relevant for the new parliamentary session.

Business and Industry

Economy and Finance

Education

Environment and Energy

Equalities

EU and International Affairs

Health and Social Care

Housing and Planning

Justice

Parliament and Government

People and Communities

Rural Affairs

Social Security

Transport, Travel & Tourism

Further subject-specific work on COVID-19 will be added to this list as it is published.

COVID-19 Parliamentary Questions and Answers

From 21 April 2020 onward, the Parliament is publishing daily reports on parliamentary questions on COVID-19 and answers by the Scottish Government, grouped by ministerial portfolio.  These can be accessed on the Motions, Questions and Answers section of the Parliament’s website.

Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill

To inform parliamentary consideration of the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill on 1 April 2020, we published a detailed, extended blogpost on the Bill.

Coronavirus (Scotland) (No. 2) Bill

The second piece of Coronavirus legislation was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 11 May 2020.  To inform scrutiny of the Bill, we published a detailed committee briefing on 12 May.  You can read it on the COVID-19 Committee webpages.

On 20 May, we published a detailed, extended blogpost on Stage 2 amendments lodged on the Bill, to inform Stage 3 consideration by the Parliament.

Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill

On 18 June 2021, the Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Parliament. We again published a detailed, extended blogpost on the Bill to inform parliamentary scrutiny.

Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill

SPICe published two detailed briefings on the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill:

Coronavirus Act 2020 – Secondary Legislation

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport wrote to the Presiding Officer regarding the Coronavirus Act 2020 (Commencement No1) (Scotland) Regulations 2020.

Letter from Jeane Freeman MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport to Ken Macintosh MSP, Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament – 3 April 2020 (1.44MB pdf)

The SSI was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 3 April 2020, and came into force on 5 April 2020.

Coronavirus Act 2020 (Commencement No 1) (Scotland) Regulations 2020

UK Legislation

Finally, we also produced a detailed committee briefing on the UK Coronavirus Bill and the Scottish Government’s Legislative Consent Memorandum.  This can be accessed via the Finance and Constitution Committee’s webpages.

Keeping up to date

To keep up to date with our work, please sign up to SPICe Spotlight updates, use the Coronavirus tag on the blog, and follow us on Twitter, @SPICe_Research.

Allan Campbell, Head of Research and Financial Scrutiny